Homebirth offers a woman a great sense of empowerment in all aspects of her care.
The Midwifery Model of Care has been well documented and established as the best model of care with the best outcomes for the overwhelmingly large majority of low risk, healthy pregnant women.
Family Life Midwifery, PLLC offers comprehensive care to low-risk, healthy pregnant women during pregnancy, labor and birth and the postpartum time, including initial newborn attention and care.
Why Homebirth?
Surrounded by supportive people of their own choosing in a comfortable and familiar environment, a birthing person may feel remarkably less inhibited in expressing their natural and individual responses to labor.
less interruption of family routines
eliminates the difficult decision about when to go to the hospital or birth center during labor.
Breastfeeding and family bonding are uninterrupted in their most natural setting.
Statistically, fewer complications occur in the home. Homebirth has been studied and scrutinized and is statistically as safe (and in some cases considered even more safe) as giving birth in a hospital.
Despite the expectation that labor and birth will unfold smoothly and without complication, we are trained and prepared to handle a broad range of possible scenarios and complications, including the transfer of your care to a hospital-based practice if this is determined to be prudent at any point in pregnancy, labor or immediately postpartum.
We are able to be vigilant but non-interfering. All such challenging scenarios would be discussed prenatally and at the time, should such a time arise.
Prenatal Care
Prenatal visits are a time to get to know each other and your baby and to make sure everything is progressing normally. As you prepare to give birth and become a parent, we want to know how you are doing and to support you on as many levels as we can- physical, emotional, mental, spiritual.
This is a time to ask questions and address any concerns you, partners, and siblings might have.
Visits usually last about one hour, and happen every three to four weeks in the first 28 weeks of pregnancy, every two weeks from 28 - 36 weeks and then weekly until birth. A home visit will be done at 36 weeks. We are easily available for consultations by phone and email.
Care includes, but is not limited to: Initial free consultation with discussion of our scope of practice and your pregnancy needs, a complete medical history and physical exam, ordering and ongoing evaluation of all indicated or preferred lab work, ongoing review of your overall health status and that of your baby, routine assessment of mother’s urinalysis, blood pressure, wellbeing, and nutrition, routine assessment of the baby’s growth, fetal heart tones, position and reactivity to stimulation, ample time for both mother and partner to discuss any questions or concerns, including the role of older siblings, medical consultation or referral as needed, discussion of water birth options, tub rental and set-up, complimentary modality referrals as needed such as doula support, fitness, physical therapy, yoga, prenatal birth classes, chiropractic care and prenatal massage, nutritional support services, breastfeeding support and evaluation, placental encapsulation, mother/father support groups, infant and child support groups, and other community resources available to support pregnant couples and new families, including WIC and Healthy New York programs.
Safety
We will take every reasonable precaution to ensure your safety, comfort and satisfaction. We bring emergency equipment to the home, such as oxygen and medications. However, this does not render the home equivalent to hospital facilities that have equipment and personnel for dealing with serious problems that may occur. In any birth setting, emergencies can arise. Some unforeseen events may result in an unexpected outcome. While our care and your prenatal care are based on evidence and preventative health care practices, we cannot guarantee a normal birth, a homebirth or a healthy mother or baby and acceptance of a client for homebirth in no way constitutes any such guarantee.
We encourage you to contact us for a free consultation to discuss our model of care and if it is the right choice for your family. We look forward to speaking with you!
Informed Care and Mutual Trust
Before you choose to receive your care with us, we want you to be fully informed. We feel quality care and a trusting relationship are best ensured when educated women make decisions regarding their care based on perceived needs and the provider’s scope of practice. A system of informed disclosure and consent fosters parent responsibility and caregiver accountability. We feel this affords optimal protection within the healthcare relationship for all concerned.
Having a homebirth requires a level of responsibility on the part of the woman and her partner to maintain optimal physical and emotional health and wellbeing. Should any change in that status deem you a less favorable candidate for a safe birth at home, it is possible that we may, together, determine it is better for you and your baby to have your care provided in another setting. If you transfer in labor, we will continue to provide ongoing support for you in the hospital setting under another primary provider’s oversight and supervision. We are committed to providing complete continuity of care for you from pregnancy through postpartum.
It is our philosophy that, whenever possible, decisions about your care will be made in discussion with you, together. However, situations may arise in which the professional judgment of the midwife and/or a consulting physician must be relied upon exclusively for the safety of you and your baby. We endeavor to develop with you, through our prenatal visits and contact, a relationship of open, communicative trust such that, if that situation were to arise, we would have earned your trust in our judgment. Your records, physical examination and laboratory reports will continually evaluate the appropriateness of your status to have a homebirth.
Do not hesitate at any time to ask questions about our practice or anything that concerns you, your baby or your family.
Words cannot express my gratitude and love for Betsy, Tisha, and the Family Life Center. They supplied me with the information, support and love I needed to birth my babies my way. From birth classes to prenatal and post-partum care, they were there for me and my family. The unparalleled skills and knowledge these women have to share, made my home-birth experiences safe, peaceful and empowering. What an amazing way to bring children into this world!
— Jess, Dave, Sadie, and Kamilah